scholarly journals Ecosystem approaches to health and knowledge-to-action: towards a political ecology of applied health-environment knowledge

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben W. Brisbois ◽  
Andrés Burgos Delgado ◽  
Douglas Barraza ◽  
Óscar Betancourt ◽  
Donald Cole ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Knowledge Framework ◽  
Knowledge To Action ◽  
Ecosystem Approaches

Abstract Political ecology pushes back against the apolitical and ahistorical ecologies frequently found in mainstream scientific accounts of nature and the environment, and has increasingly focused on how scientific knowledge is 'socially constructed.' In this article, we argue for political ecological engagement with the highly influential knowledge-to-action (KTA) movement in science about health and the environment. We introduce KTA using results of a survey conducted under the auspices of a Canada-Latin America-Caribbean 'ecosystem approaches to health' (ecohealth) collaboration, and then narrow our focus to a single illustrative ecohealth project, dealing with the health impacts of small-scale gold mining in southwestern Ecuador. We employ an ecology of knowledge framework for integrating insights from science and technology studies,illustrating the interacting actors, material artifacts, institutions and discourses involved in not only the generation but also the application of health-environment science. The origins of ecohealth research in the Americas reflect interacting epistemological and political factors, as sophisticated, complex systemic analyses of health-environment interactions occurred amidst increasing neoliberalization of knowledge production. Simultaneously, corporate actors such as large mining companies influenced both the distribution of healthdamaging environmental conditions in the Americas, and the ways in which they were studied. This analysis motivates our advocacy of specifically political ecologies of health-environment knowledge, in which inequitable power dynamics and non-human actors are foregrounded in studies of the social production and application of science. The political ecology of knowledge framework that we envision would allow for simultaneous consideration of how societal contexts influence scientific knowledge production, and how the resulting knowledge can be better applied to protect the health of communities facing environmental injustice. Key words: ecohealth; mining; praxis; science and technology studies; knowledge-to-action; Canada; Ecuador

scholarly journals Spaces between

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Roger A Søraa
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Field Experiences ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Epistemic Practices ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Scientific Knowledge Production

There is an increasing interest in Science and Technology Studies (STS), as the field experiences growth with respect to the scope of topics, methods and theories deployed to learn and uncover epistemic practices for scientific knowledge production, technological innovations, users and producers. 

Virtual Witnessing in a Virtual Age

2008 ◽  
pp. 1064-1081
Author(s):  
Steve Woolgar ◽  
Catelijne Coopmans
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Data Networks ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Virtual Age ◽  
Early Emergence ◽  
Technical Capacity

Despite a substantial unfolding investment in Grid technologies (for the development of cyberinfrastructures or e-science), little is known about how, why and by whom these new technologies are being adopted or will be taken up. This chapter argues for the importance of addressing these questions from an STS (science and technology studies) perspective, which develops and maintains a working scepticism with respect to the claims and attributions of scientific and technical capacity. We identify three interconnected topics with particular salience for Grid technologies: data, networks, and accountability. The chapter provides an illustration of howthese topics might be approached from an STS perspective, by revisiting the idea of “virtual witnessing”—a key idea in understanding the early emergence of criteria of adequacy in experiments and demonstrations at the birth of modern science—and by drawing upon preliminary interviews with prospective scientist users of Grid technologies. The chapter concludes that, against the temptation to represent the effects of new technologies on the growth of scientific knowledge as straightforward and determinate, e-scientists are immersed in structures of interlocking accountabilities which leave the effects uncertain.

scholarly journals Dancing with Data: Introducing a Creative Interactional Metaphor

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-548
Author(s):  
Darren J Reed
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Ballroom Dance ◽  
Interactional Analysis ◽  
Device Use ◽  
Interactional Features

In this article, a dance metaphor is developed to deepen our understanding of the material, sensual, processual, and experiential potential of digital data relations. Premised upon Blumer’s notion of a sensitising concept, ballroom dance theory is applied to everyday use of the Apple Watch so as to prompt investigation of subtle interactional features of device use. The aim is to engender an inclusive umbrella concept while simultaneously stimulating questions of analysis of and access to small-scale and intimate moments of embodied behaviours in future interactional analysis. In so doing, the article contributes to the sociology of data relationality in everyday life, as well as constituent approaches such as science and technology studies and the interactional study of bodies and machines.

Worlding, Ontological Politics and the Possibility of a Decolonial IR

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Blaney ◽  
Arlene B. Tickner
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Colonial Modernity ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Representational Practices ◽  
Ontological Turn

This article argues that attention to representational practices and epistemology, however important for expanding the boundaries of International Relations as a field of study, has been insufficient for dealing with difference in world politics, where ontological conflicts are also at play. We suggest that IR, as a latecomer to the ‘ontological turn’, has yet to engage systematically with ‘singular world’ logics introduced by colonial modernity and their effacement of alternative worlds. In addition to exploring how even critical scholars concerned with the ‘othering’ and ‘worlding’ of difference sidestep issues of ontology, we critique the ontological violence performed by norms constructivism and the only limited openings offered by the Global IR project. Drawing on literatures from science and technology studies, anthropology, political ecology, standpoint feminism and decolonial thought, we examine the potentials of a politics of ontology for unmaking the colonial universe, cultivating the pluriverse, and crafting a decolonial science. The article ends with an idea of what this might mean for International Relations.

Interdisciplinary Hauntings

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Scientific Culture ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Feminist Science ◽  
Technology Studies

This introductory chapter illustrates how scientific culture is not, in fact, a “culture of no culture.” Rather, it argues that categories of gender, race, class, sexuality, and nation were everywhere, constantly shaping science, its practitioners, its cultures, and scientific knowledge. Thus, the chapter traces the author's own scientific trajectories, moving from a disciplinary world of natures and cultures into an interdisciplinary one of “naturecultures.” It discusses the problem of methodology and contextualizes this study within the realm of feminist science and technology studies (FSTS), revealing the vast complexity of naturecultures which, furthermore, are underscored by the metaphor of the supernatural as “unfinished business.” The chapter asserts that ghosts, rather than a superstitious legacy of a past, are a haunting reminder of an ignored past.

scholarly journals Theorizing power in political ecology: the 'where' of power in resource governance projects

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helene Ahlborg ◽  
Andrea J Nightingale
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Rural Electrification ◽  
Societal Change ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Resource Governance ◽  
Social And Economic Development

Power and politics have been central topics from the early days of Political Ecology. There are different and sometimes conflicting conceptualizations of power in this field that portray power alternatively as a resource, personal attribute or relation. The aim of this article is to contribute to theorizations of power by probing contesting views regarding its role in societal change and by presenting a specific conceptualization of power, one which draws on political ecology and sociotechnical approaches in science and technology studies. We review how power has been conceptualized in the political ecology field and identify three trends that shaped current discussions. We then develop our conceptual discussion and ask explicitly where power emerges in processes of resource governance projects. We identify four locations that we illustrate empirically through an example of rural electrification in Tanzania that aimed at catalyzing social and economic development by providing renewable energy-based electricity services. Our analysis supports the argument that power is relational and productive, and it draws on science and technology studies to bring to the fore the critical role of non-human elements in co-constitution of society – technology – nature. This leads us to see the exercise of power as having contradictory and ambiguous effects. We conclude that by exploring the tension between human agency and constitutive power, we keep the politics alive throughout the analysis and are able to show why intentional choices and actions really matter for how resource governance projects play out in everyday life.

scholarly journals HOW TO USE THE VISUAL IN SCIENTIFIC STUDIES? (FOLLOWING PETER GALISON AND LORRAINE DASTON)

2021 ◽  
pp. 117-130
Author(s):  
Михаил Андреевич Новиков
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Visual Science ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
It Practices

В отличие от визуального как компонента научных практик, исследование научных визуализаций – достаточно молодая, совсем недавно начавшая набирать обороты область эпистемологии. Несмотря на свой «юный» возраст, данная сфера исследований уже успела обогатиться разного рода подходами, концептами и самостоятельными выводами. На наш взгляд, книгу Питера Галисона и Лоррейн Дастон «Объективность» можно рассматривать в качестве труда, который и привносит очевидные новшества в понимание того, как производится знание, в том числе знание о производстве знания, и суммирует все достижения современной эпистемологии и истории науки, в первую очередь эпистемологии визуального, или Visual Science and Technology Studies. Исходя из этого, делается вывод, что, помимо изучения объективности, авторы изобретают новый способ говорения о науке. Визуальное в науке, со всеми возможными способами его практиковать, позволяет авторам, так или иначе двигающимся в русле прагматических подходов, избежать экстерналистских вариантов объяснений производства знания. Это достигается благодаря тому, что исследователи рассматривают не какие-то локальные визуализации, но работают с целыми ассамбляжами образов, исходя из предпосылки, что визуальное – неотчуждаемая часть науки. Чтобы разобраться с тем, что из себя представляет «Объективность», невозможно не обратиться к работам, которые также исследуют визуальное. Оказалось важным продемонстрировать, что современные исследования зачастую проводятся на стыке разных дисциплин, причем предполагается, что строгие дисциплинарные различия для данных исследований столь же реальны, как и пасторальные идеалы. Возвращая статус отчужденным научным компонентам, подобные подходы демонстрируют, что наука отнюдь не сводится к каким-то исключительно априорным или трансцендентальным пропозициям. Напротив, подтверждается, что наука делается здесь и сейчас и невероятно близка к нам, а это значит, что нельзя просто так пройти мимо любого из практикуемых ею элементов. Unlike the visual as a component of scientific practices, the study of scientific visualizations is a young field of epistemology that has only recently begun to gain momentum. Despite its “young” age, this field of research has already been enriched by all kinds of approaches, concepts, and independent conclusions. In my opinion, Peter Galison and Lorraine Daston’s book Objectivity can be considered as a work which, besides bringing obvious innovations in understanding how knowledge is produced, including knowledge about knowledge production, summarizes all achievements of modern epistemology and history of science, first of all, epistemology of the visual or VSTS (Visual Science and Technology Studies). From this it can be inferred that, among other things, in addition to the study of objectivity, the authors are inventing a new way of speaking about science. The visual in science, with all the possible ways of practicing it, allows the authors, moving in one way or another in the direction of pragmatic approaches, to avoid externalistic versions of explanations of knowledge production. This is achieved by the fact that the researchers do not look at some local visualizations, but work with whole assemblages of images, based on the premise that the visual is an inalienable part of science. In order to understand what Objectivity is, one must refer to works that also investigate the visual. It turned out to be important to demonstrate that contemporary research often takes place at the junction of different disciplines, with the assumption that strict disciplinary distinctions for this research are as real as pastoral ideals. By reclaiming the status of alienated scientific components, such approaches demonstrate that science is by no means reducible to some exclusively a priori or transcendental propositions. On the contrary, it confirms that science is done here and now, and is incredibly close to us, which means that one cannot simply pass by any of the elements it practices.

scholarly journals Making a financial market: the economization and topology of Farmland REITs

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 599
Author(s):  
Angela Serrano
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Real Estate Investment ◽  
Economic Theories ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
And Topology ◽  
Decision Making Processes

<p>This article considers how financial mechanisms shape political and economic power around farmland. It draws on political ecology around the financialization of agriculture, and perspectives from Science and Technology Studies about performativity and topology to study how financial mechanisms in agriculture reconfigure networks of access to farmland for farmers, investors, workers and consumers. The article focuses on the case of Farmland Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in the United States and shows REITS as sociotechnical assemblages of economic theories mobilized by investors and their representatives. Building on topologic ideas, the article highlights how financial mechanisms, such as REITs, shift networks of access to land. These mechanisms can profoundly shape landscapes and livelihoods by creating a market for farmland that transforms the connections of different actors with land, distancing workers and consumers from decision making processes while producing fluid and smooth access for investors. By studying REITs from the perspectives of economization and topology this article identifies key actors and mechanisms through which financialization is reconfiguring access to farmland and identifies limitations and opportunities for increased access to decisions about land for farmers, workers and consumers.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>financialization of agriculture, political ecology, performativity, topology, science and technology studies, REITs, farmland</p>

Virtual Witnessing in a Virtual Age

2006 ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Woolgar ◽  
Catelijne Coopmans
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Data Networks ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Virtual Age ◽  
Early Emergence ◽  
Technical Capacity

Despite a substantial unfolding investment in Grid technologies (for the development of cyberinfrastructures or e-science), little is known about how, why and by whom these new technologies are being adopted or will be taken up. This chapter argues for the importance of addressing these questions from an STS (science and technology studies) perspective, which develops and maintains a working scepticism with respect to the claims and attributions of scientific and technical capacity. We identify three interconnected topics with particular salience for Grid technologies: data, networks, and accountability. The chapter provides an illustration of howthese topics might be approached from an STS perspective, by revisiting the idea of “virtual witnessing”—a key idea in understanding the early emergence of criteria of adequacy in experiments and demonstrations at the birth of modern science—and by drawing upon preliminary interviews with prospective scientist users of Grid technologies. The chapter concludes that, against the temptation to represent the effects of new technologies on the growth of scientific knowledge as straightforward and determinate, e-scientists are immersed in structures of interlocking accountabilities which leave the effects uncertain.

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